Do you log your steps?

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hendersonandie
hendersonandie Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What is everyone's thought on logging your steps as cardio in MFP? Along with the calories burned. I am new to this and dieting. And I would really like some feedback on what everyone is doing! ♥️
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Replies

  • Dani9585
    Dani9585 Posts: 215 Member
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    My Fitbit syncs to MFP (although not today, for some reason), so I don't log them.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    edited May 2018
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    I go for walks most days for exercise, so log that, but not everyday steps I just include that in my activity level. If I happen to take a lot of steps through out the day then that's a bonus, more calories burned. I'd rather under estimate calories burnt than over estimate.
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
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    My Garmin syncs all activities and steps with MFP. I don't "eat back" anything, though. With the exception of maybe an 8+ mile run. I wouldn't eat an extra 100 calories for getting in an extra 1000 steps.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    it falls under your activity level.

    i know activity trackers have their fans, im not one of them.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
    edited May 2018
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    hendersonandie wrote: »
    What is everyone's thought on logging your steps as cardio in MFP? Along with the calories burned. I am new to this and dieting. And I would really like some feedback on what everyone is doing! ♥️

    Nope, a number of steps would be assumed based on your activity level. if you have significantly increased your step count from when you set up on MFP you may want to increase your activity level (say from sedentary to light active). By increasing your activity level you will get more calories to eat as well.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Anything above and beyond my set activity level (which is very active) comes over from my Apple Watch
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I use my tracker and have my activity level set to sedentary, so I need to eat them back or I would under eat. But if you are not using a tracker (24/7) and think your activity level is correct then don't eat them back. They would be included in your activity level.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    Personally, I do not. I set my activity level such that regular, day-to-day activity (steps) are included. I do still log intentional and dedicated exercise though.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,131 Member
    edited May 2018
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    It depends on your method for counting them, if you're using a tracker/app that syncs with MFP your adjustment will account for your activity level (you will only earn additional calories for steps over and above those included in your activity level) in which case it's fine to log your steps. If you're not using something that syncs then just adjust your activity level to account for your non-exercise steps:

    Sedentary is approximately 3000 steps per day, Lightly Active around 5000 steps per day, etc.

    Your real world results compared to your expected loss is your best judge of how accurate your calories in/out are. If you're losing more than expected then eat more, if you're losing less than expected tighten up your logging, review for another 4 weeks and then adjust as necessary.
  • cqbkaju
    cqbkaju Posts: 1,011 Member
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    As many have said, walking i.e. "steps" is activity, not exercise.
  • smolmaus
    smolmaus Posts: 442 Member
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    I let the Pacer app sync my steps to MFP and it does add calories but I don't necessarily eat them.

    It gives me about 60kcal/mile walked which seems like about double what I should realistically be burning just for walking but on the other hand it does track with your maintenance calories being BMRx1.2 for sedentary (<3000 steps, the setting on MFP I use) to BMRx1.4 for lightly active (3000-10,000 steps) so you can make your own judgement about eating some amount of them back if you need them.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    Steps are not cardio they are activity. My fit bit logs them for me. The weird thing is that if I use Runtastic to log my runs it counts the running calories burn but not the fit bit steps that occurred at the same time.
  • amgreenwell
    amgreenwell Posts: 1,268 Member
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    I've never logged my steps but I can only assume I don't take many. I work at a desk in a bank all day. I take two walks a day and try to get out at lunch but overall my steps are minimal. I do use map my walk when I walk so I can keep track of my calories that way and when I do cardio in the morning I use map my run or elliptical estimate of calories burned.
    Since I'm not "active" I just set my calories to whatever it needs to be in mfp and then use my exercise calories if I want to eat something back. :)
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,131 Member
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    amgreenwell wrote: »
    I've never logged my steps but I can only assume I don't take many. I work at a desk in a bank all day. I take two walks a day and try to get out at lunch but overall my steps are minimal. I do use map my walk when I walk so I can keep track of my calories that way and when I do cardio in the morning I use map my run or elliptical estimate of calories burned.
    Since I'm not "active" I just set my calories to whatever it needs to be in mfp and then use my exercise calories if I want to eat something back. :)

    You might be surprised, I work a desk job and even if I skip walking to/from work I get around 5000 steps per day just from walking up and down the stairs/ using photocopier/ housework at home. Which puts me at lightly active. If I am walking to/from work then that's closer to 11-12000 steps per day.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    edited May 2018
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    hendersonandie wrote: »
    What is everyone's thought on logging your steps as cardio in MFP? Along with the calories burned. I am new to this and dieting. And I would really like some feedback on what everyone is doing! ♥️

    You would only want to log activity that isn't accounted for in your activity level. Even a sedentary activity level is going to account for around 5,000 steps.

    If you're going to do something like this, the best way to go about it would be to get a FitBit or similar and have it synched to MFP and it will automatically start giving you more calories if your actual activity is beyond your activity level set in MFP.

    When I logged, I personally never logged walking...I figured my 1-3 mile walk with my dog was just bonus activity and not strenuous enough to require more calories. I only logged more purposeful exercise. If I was walking a ton, that would probably be a different story.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
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    Mine comes from my Garmin, but if I didn't log my steps (either manually or through a device), I'd be pretty low on calories as I average around 12k steps/day.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    my garmin logs for me.

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